Here’s What The Atlantic City Change Of Government Means

There is some confusion about exactly what happens if the November 8, 2022 General Election ballot question passes by the vote of the Atlantic City, New Jersey electorate.

The ballot question will provide the voters with the opportunity to change the form of government from the current partisan (Democratic & Republican) structure to a non-partisan format.

It’s not complicated and we will lay out all of the implications here in one easy read.

The Atlantic City Independence Committee was formed last Spring to circulate a city-wide petition to place a question on the ballot.

The committee succeeded in obtaining the required amount of voter signatures to qualify to place the change of government question on the ballot.

If the voters approve the question, the current Mayor - Council form of government will move from the partisan June Primary and November General Elections … to May, non-partisan elections.

This change would only affect the Mayor and Council races. Atlantic City voters will still participate in all of the other partisan elections, regarding county, state and federal races.

If successful, it would return the Atlantic City form of local government to the exact format that was in place for many years … until a ballot question changed it to the current partisan form of government.

The Committee states that a change in the form of
government will mean "less control, less corruption and
less manipulation from outside Influences in Atlantic
City."

If the ballot question passes, the new form of government will take effect with elections held for ward council seats in May, 2023.

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Who is the Atlantic City Independence Committee?

"The ACIC (Atlantic City Independence Committee) is a
community watchdog group, whose mission is to
inform, educate and consult with city, county, state,
region and federal agencies on behalf of the Atlantic
City residents in all matters that effect their lives.

The Committee told us that they believe that the current
Mayor (Marty Small) “is detached from reality and not
focused on the key pocketbook issues that affect the
residents of Atlantic City.”

Directly from the petition, here are the specific items
that the Committee wants to address by changing the
form of government:

“Change the Atlantic City election process for our local municipal officials (Mayor and City Council ONLY) from a partisan (Democratic and Republican) to a non-partisan elections, held once every two years in May.”

A living wage of twenty ($20.00) dollars per-hour for Atlantic City residents.

A percentage of the Cannabis revenue generated by Atlantic City government to be set aside for Atlantic City Senior Citizens.

The Committee of Petitioners responsible for circulating
this change of government action are:

• Andra Williams
• Matthew Diullio-Jusino
• Karim Ullah
• Oveta Thompson
• Jennifer Speed

Here is a copy of the successful petition, that placed the November 8, 2022 question on the ballot:

We reported yesterday that three incumbent members of the Atlantic City Council have publicly endorsed changing the form of government.

Council members Jesse Kurtz, Bruce E. Weekes, and LaToya Dunston support passage.

We have also confirmed that one more member of Atlantic City Council will be announcing support for changing the form of government in the very near future.